[TrenchardsLoveSock]

Good work for a first model mate.

Downloaded Blender last week and just hope that my first model looks as good as that.  I think it might be a while though because I'm still trying to get my head around the interface.

[Raven2001]

Looking over the Max plugin, what benefits are there to using it?
Obviously you don't have to use TS... but it seems that it's either
going to crash or cause much trial and error to figure out where you made a mistake?

Maybe that's a blessing in disguise, figuring you'd end up with a tuned model..
but it seems like you'd still be wiser by using TS?

(which yes I've briefly tried TS, LU, and Maya, the interface is... odd)

It aint as bad as you may think, in fact its really good. True, it will crash most of the time you screw up, but if you follow the rules posted on the wikki youll be fine... the only thing there I havent got the hang of yet is the engine glows, due to lack of info

And to give you an idea: 3 days ago I was completely noob on conversion\POF matters... that Max plugin made my life easier and Ive just converted my first model, smoothly, not a single crash

[Col. Fishguts]

make sure to convert to editable poly instead of editable mesh, and keep draggin those verts and cutting when tou need to.

Slightly OT, but why is editable poly preferable to editable mesh ? Do you fin it easier to edit or is there a difference once exported to POF ?

[Turambar]

i just find its easier to work with

when i did mesh i screwed things up way too easily

[aldo_14]

make sure to convert to editable poly instead of editable mesh, and keep draggin those verts and cutting when tou need to.

Slightly OT, but why is editable poly preferable to editable mesh ? Do you fin it easier to edit or is there a difference once exported to POF ?

In my experience it's a wee bit easier to work with, as I have a bunch of plugin/tool things that allow you to automagically spilt edges & join selected vertices.

It's been said that you really need to convert from poly, but I've never seen that need.

[JGZinv]

Well I've been reading just about everything I can get my hands on...

So in response to myself, and hopefully to help the poor souls following
in my footsteps, here's some nice (written in plain English for newbs) tutorials.

http://www.oman3d.com/tutorials/3ds/

http://www.cgtutorials.com/c11/Modeling/newest/2

If you go through the polygon modeling tutorials in the second link, the series
content may go over your head at first... but with a little work it's fairly digestable.

A few things I'm still struggling with concept/know-how wise, is getting the model pieces
to warp or bend properly.... like say a bend in the hood of a car, or like sand dunes.
Between moving the vertexes and I would suppose the XYZ sliders, it's possible, but it
just doesn't seem very intuitive.

Some others - good ways to keep poly counts low and sub objects, detail boxing.
But I'll have to keep looking I guess.

Appearantly, you use poly modeling because of the other editing features and the reason
behind going from mesh to poly - was that early versions of Max would add junk or mis-interpret
parts of the model when converting straight over. I don't know any more on the subject though.

[Col. Fishguts]

It's been said that you really need to convert from poly, but I've never seen that need.

Ah good, I've seen the recommendation in the wiki to convert from poly, but I prefer editing in mesh mode.

[JGZinv]

Ok question time yet again...

Is chamfering what the majority of those here are using to form the edges on their
models?

http://www.onnovanbraam.com/index.php?tutorials/pm-5-tech1/
Example of what I'm referring to half-way down this page.

It seems to me that the process would increase your poly count and be
quite time consuming. Although it looks to be applicable to most situations in which
you need to define a shape.

I don't recall any other models at the moment, but Turambar's A-wing/Corvette
and even Brandx0's ISD (SWC WIP thread) don't appear to be using the same process
or it's very small and not visible via the pictures.

So is there a better way to be doing things? What terminology should I be searching for?

Edit - Just realized why it may appear that I'm asking silly questions.
None of my tutorials that are supposed to be built into Max, installed correctly,
so that's why I'm pretty much "in the dark."

[brandx0]

Now that I've been brought up in conversation, I'll be softening the edges in certain places, but only where neccesary.  This kind of editing can double your polycount easily.  I'll be doing it manually where it needs to be done, but on my ISD, given the greebles which are everywhere, probably only on the edges of the brim trenches, as the rest will be greebled enough to not see the sharp edges.

Oh yeah! and thanks for the recognition, glad to know there's not only 2 or 3 people watching (all of which are project staff)

[redsniper]

On the personal side of things, I'd like to eventually get up to the point where I can model these:

If you get the Gekko into FS2 then you'll pretty much win at modeling.

[Scooby_Doo]

That looks a bit like Jetstorm

[JGZinv]

Scooby -
A Jetstorm would be closer to a Robotech fighter craft.
The GekkoGo/Midnight is a big carrier/cruiser class ship with sub-orbital ability.

More pics of the nice ship:
http://www.dannychoo.com/blogimg/eureka_seven_679.jpg
http://pds.egloos.com/pds/1/200412/13/05/b0034105_21505273.jpg
http://www.animestocks.com/gallery.php/category/Eureka+Seven;Gekko+Go  (Down for maintenance ATM)

redsniper -
I didn't know I was in a competition?

Some other things I'd like to see...
A transformable Nirvash spec 2
ZOE's Jehuty Orbital Frame
Swordfish II - Cowboy Bebop
Patrol Ship Basroil - Banner of the Stars II (there's a Homeworld mod with ships already, so it might just be the task of converting em)
Futune Command Ship - Crest/Banner of the Stars (")
Outlaw Star - Outlaw Star
Ryo-Ohki - Tenchi Muyo OVA
Ships made out of food.... like a flying plate of curry that fires blobs.

As you can tell I'm not going for anything to do with the series themselves, I just
like the ship designs or the capabilities. I think fun and function is more important than sticking to any
particular theme if you're going into a free for all type mission environment. Due to FS2's nice table system,
I think they could all be set to have an accurate feel, while still dealing out moderate damage for keeping
gameplay equal. It's all about give and take really...

Eh I've thought about "how" they can be achieved, and from what I've seen and discussed, it's possible. 
I just have to catch up my skills to the level necessary to make them from scratch.

[redsniper]

No competition (unless you want to count life as a competition). I'm implying that you would win at all modeling everywhere, in short: it would be effing awesome.

[takashi]

now make a HTL gekko full with cockpit tub and custom effects for unique weapons, and you'll get worshipped by the whole board.

[brandx0]

what was the point of that last post?

[JGZinv]

(brandex, I have no clue)

I'll get there eventually.

Trying to figure out Max's modeling system is my main concern now.
Besides there are other projects ahead of this.

[takashi]

why max? i've been trying to figure it out for 5 months now. try something else with .3ds exports and hiearchy like wings 3d.

http://www.wings3d.com/

[Snail]

3DSMax seems appealing to most people because the original game models that were created by were made in Max.

[RazorsKiss]

That, and it has 100 times the tutorials of any other program.

[takashi]

but its so hard to use, and operates like no other program!